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Haunting photos and videos have captured the chilling moments just before disaster strikes for decades.
While it is sometimes possible to literally stare danger straight ahead, on other occasions it comes completely out of the blue.
Either way, these images serve as a chilling reminder of how people’s lives can change in the blink of an eye.
Just this week, a woman’s final moments were caught on camera when she was swept away by a giant wave while exercising on her yoga mat in Thailand.
Harrowing footage shows Kamilla Belyatskaya, 24, floating into the sea just seconds after filming herself exercising on a rock.
Her bright pink mat was later spotted in the violent seas off Koh Samui, one of Thailand’s most popular islands, but her body has yet to be found.
Here, MailOnline looks at a series of harrowing photos taken just before disaster struck.
Kamilla Belyatskaya, 24, was seen sitting on her yoga mat as the waves grew stronger
Kamilla Belyatskaya, an amateur actress, had traveled to the Thai spot for exercise
Smiling selfie before plane crash
Travel blogger Elena Banduro, 33, uploaded this photo not long before she was involved in a horror plane crash in January last year
This is the smiling selfie a woman posted just before she died in a devastating plane crash.
Travel blogger Elena Banduro, 33, uploaded the photo as she excitedly told her followers about her trip and captioned it, “Go to Nepal.”
She was one of 72 people killed when a Yeti Airlines plane crashed into a gorge and caught fire in Pokhara, Nepal, on January 15 last year.
Elena, who was from Moscow, was dubbed “the smartest, kindest soul we knew” in tributes on social media.
The doomed Yeti Airlines Flight 691 lasted just 27 minutes and was Nepal’s deadliest aviation accident in three decades.
It was determined that the crash was caused by one of the pilots accidentally changing the propeller angle instead of that of the wing flaps of the ATR-72 aircraft.
One expert said this would have resulted in the plane sinking rapidly to the ground and losing thrust.
Rescue teams work at the crash site of a Yeti Airlines ATR72 aircraft in Pokhara, central Nepal
A tragic tragedy
Karl Wallenda, 73, loses his balance before falling 115 feet while performing a high-wire stunt
This is one of the last images captured of a tightrope walker before he lost his balance and fell 115 feet to his death.
Karl Wallenda, 73, was trying to walk between the two towers of the 10-story Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, when he fell.
The tragic accident, which occurred in 1978, was filmed and broadcast on television at the time.
Mr. Wallenda could be seen trying to steady himself before finally falling to the ground in front of shocked onlookers.
His body hit a taxi below and he was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Wallenda’s death was attributed to high winds and an improperly secured cord wire.
The German-American circus performer was no stranger to performing daring stunts.
Wallenda was part of a circus family and first appeared on stage at the age of six.
He later formed the circus troupe Great Wallendas who gained fame with their daredevil three-man pyramid on the high wire.
In 1962, two members of the acrobatic troupe were killed and a third paralyzed when the pyramid collapsed during a performance.
Cave rescue horror
Photo shows Saman Gunan moments before he entered a cave complex in Thailand and never returned
This is the last photo of a former Thai Navy SEAL diver who died while trying to deliver oxygen to 12 boys trapped in a flooded cave.
Saman Gunan had volunteered to help rescue the football team who had spent almost two weeks underground in the Tham Luang cave complex in June 2018.
The 37-year-old was tasked with taking spare oxygen tanks and leaving them in one of the rooms along the route.
He delivered them and left for the entrance, but never returned. His body was found floating in the murky water, with his mouthpiece disconnected.
No one knows for sure what happened. Was his air tank contaminated? Had he overexerted himself and had a buildup of carbon dioxide put his brain to sleep?
The football team, aged between 11 and 16, and their coach, had ventured into the cave two weeks earlier but became trapped after a sudden deluge of rain.
The group was first discovered by a team of British divers ten days after their disappearance. They saw them sitting on a rock shelf about 4 km from the cave entrance.
Teams of Thai divers then continued to go in to provide them with food, water and oxygen.
The final four boys and their coach were eventually pulled out of the cave system 18 days after being trapped in the cave.
While Gunan was the only person killed during the operation, another rescue diver and Thai Navy SEAL, Beirut Pakbara, died the following year.
He developed septic shock due to a blood infection he contracted during the operation.
Tractor stuntman crushed
Nishu Deshwal, 22, father of one, was completely crushed between the two pieces of metal and died on the spot
These are the last moments of a YouTuber known for his tractor stunts before he was crushed while doing a wheelie in India.
The tragic accident happened on a river bank in Panipat district, Haryana in March this year.
Nishu Deshwal, 22, who had more than 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube, lifted the front wheels of the heavy vehicle into the air, but when the rear wheels sank into the soft ground, the tractor collapsed on top of him.
The stuntman had spent the past three years entertaining viewers with stunts with the huge vehicles, often on incredibly soft and unstable terrain.
His YouTube channel has been viewed more than 300 million times, while his most viewed video alone has 25 million views.
Fans speculated about the possible cause of the tractor collapse.
One wrote: ‘This is an old tractor and it didn’t have proper roll bars.
“The homemade roll bar collapsed as soon as the tractor turned over and crushed him.”
Another added: ‘Looks like the back part of the seat gave way.
‘Presumably it was not designed to carry the weight of about 40 percent of the tractor.
“It looks like the ‘seat’ just broke and the tractor ‘of course’ fell on the poor guy.”
Wingsuit flyer plummets to her death
A female Wingsuit flyer’s final moments in China were captured by a cameraman who jumped out of the helicopter with her
This footage shows the final moments of a wingsuit flyer’s life as she plunged 8,000 feet to her death after jumping from a helicopter.
The terrifying footage was captured by the woman’s jumping partner, who tried to wave to warn her she was off course.
Her body was found in a dense forest in Tianmen Mountain National Park in southern China, seven days after she first went missing in May 2020.
It is believed she crashed into some trees below after her parachute failed to open properly.
According to reports, the cameraman tried to signal her to open her parachute, but she deviated from the agreed flight path and then disappeared from view.
Local authorities said helicopters, drones and an extensive search had been sent into the vast mountains.
According to reports, the Wingsuit pilot was well trained and experienced, having completed “hundreds” of Wingsuit flights before the accident.
She was taking part in a short documentary about female extreme athletes when she went missing.
Elephant tramples man after selfie attempt
Ashok Bharti, 50, had reportedly consumed alcohol before approaching the lone elephant near Kuanrmunda, Odisha state, eastern India, in 2017
This image shows the moment before an Indian man is trampled to death by a wild elephant after he tried to pose for a photo with it.
Ashok Bharti, 50, had reportedly consumed alcohol before approaching the lone elephant near Kuanrmunda, Odisha state, eastern India, in 2017.
However, when he tried to take a selfie with the elephant, the animal charged at him, sending Mr Bharti running for his life.
The incident was captured on video and filmed by onlookers from a safe distance. Mr. Bharti stumbles while trying to escape the elephant.
The elephant then trampled and seriously injured Mr Bharti, from Rourkela, Odisha.
An ambulance was called to the scene, but Mr Bharti died on the way to hospital, local news reported at the time.
Philip Sahu, assistant conservator of forests, said, ‘Forest officials tried to chase the elephant back to the herd when Bharti got too close to the animal to take a selfie.
‘The animal was nervous because it had strayed from its family and when the man got too close, the elephant that wanted to save him attacked him.’
Since July this year, a herd of elephants raiding villages near Rourkela has killed at least three people, including a woman and her son.